The present invention is directed to temperature controlled air cargo container transport dollies for use in facilitating the storage and transport of perishable cargo from an airport cargo storage facility to an aircraft, as well as for enhancing the securing associated with such storage and transport practices.
The transport of perishable cargo by aircraft is well-known in the art. In this regard, such perishable cargo, which can encompass any type of product that must be maintained in a temperature-controlled environment, can only be efficiently and timely delivered by aircraft in many parts of the world. In fact, shipping via air is the only viable option of transporting many types of perishable goods. Exemplary of such type of goods include fresh produce, seafood, meat products, blood and a variety of other temperature-sensitive medications, such as vaccines and the like. Perishable cargo will also encompass many other types of products well-known to those skilled in the art.
While in some cases the duration that perishable cargo must go without being refrigerated (or heated) is of so short duration as to not affect the cargo, in many other instances perishable cargo will go for sufficient lengths of time from when delivered in a refrigerated condition at the airport to when the cargo is actually loaded on a plane. In this latter scenario, failure to continue providing adequate environmental control will cause the cargo to spoil or otherwise become unusable for its intended purpose. Such phenomena occurs very frequently with respect to food items and other heat sensitive materials such as blood and other biological products. The frequency that such damage occurs is also substantially high in areas having extremely hot climates as occurs in major cities in the states of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas during the summer months. Numerous other cities throughout the world likewise experience such extreme temperatures.
In practice, perishable cargo is typically containerized at refrigerated terminals and held in refrigeration until the same is transported to airlines, typically via refrigerated roller floor trucks, prior to flight time. As soon as such trucks are unloaded at the designated terminal at the airport, airline containers containing perishable cargo are first weighed and then placed into open container transport dollies for transport to the aircraft. At such point in the shipping process, however, the perishable cargo is no longer maintained in a temperature-controlled environment. As is well-known to those skilled in the art, such point in the transport of such cargo is referred to as a breaking in the “cool chain” where the perishable cargo is vulnerable to the temperatures of the external environment. During such time, the airline containers containing such perishable cargo will sit upon such open transport dollies, in some cases for up to four or more hours, and often times will be exposed to direct sunlight and extreme temperatures before ultimately being loaded into an aircraft for departure.
Such interval makes the perishable cargo especially vulnerable and it is during such time that substantial damage can occur by virtue of being exposed to a non-temperature controlled environment. In this regard, from the time that the temperature-controlled cargo is delivered to the airport and ultimately loaded on a plane, where the cargo is kept out of direct sunlight and at least protected to some extent by air conditioning, presents a significant risk that often times causes irreparable damage to the cargo resulting in substantial financial losses and property destruction.
These same issues also arise with respect to perishable air cargo being unloaded from aircraft. As discussed above, such interval from when the perishable cargo is unloaded from the aircraft to the time from when the same is ultimately stored in a temperature-controlled environment places such perishable cargo at substantial risk.
In addition to the foregoing problems associated with the potential spoilage of perishable air cargo resulting from a break in the “cool chain” is the additional vulnerability that such cargo can be tampered with, damaged, lost or even stolen. In this regard, many complications can and often do arise with respect to the transport of cargo to and from storage facilities to aircraft that, given the open nature by which perishable cargo is transported, present numerous opportunities where such unfortunate events can occur. Indeed, the risk for perishable cargo to become lost, damaged or stolen is exceptionally high at major airports that are very large and encounter heavy volumes of air traffic.
In fact, such vulnerability may even be deemed to pose a potential threat to safety and even national security. With respect to the former, it is well-known that the importation of numerous types of perishable cargo, and in particular agricultural products, can (or must) be inspected to insure that the same is not contaminated, whether by parasites, insects or any other type of contamination. In addition or, alternatively, the open nature by which air cargo is typically transported presents an opportunity that the same will go unchecked and thus exposes a vulnerability that the cargo can be detrimentally manipulated.
In order to provide at least some limited degree of protection, thermally insulated or refrigerated containers can and often are employed to facilitate the transport of perishable air cargo. While such containers and the like are known in the art, however, the same do not address the very specific need of being able to store and transport perishable cargo from an air cargo storage facility to the aircraft itself. Exemplary of such apparatus include those disclosed in Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. U.S. 2003/0101742 A1, published Jun. 5, 2003, for a modular air cargo container having a refrigerator unit and U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,684 B1, for a transportable, self-contained refrigerator system, each of which are operative to provide a temperature-controlled environment that are designed to be easily transported from one location to another. Such prior art devices, however, clearly lack any structure for use solely as a means for transporting perishable cargo for the very limited distance and duration from when perishable cargo is taken from an airport terminal to an aircraft, and no further. In this regard, the prior art is replete with containers that attempt to serve as storage containers that are transported with the perishable cargo to its final destination. Such temperature-controlled containers, however, are typically not operative to function as any type of dolly or trailer and are well-known in the art to be extremely difficult to track and retrieve. The latter aspect is especially difficult insofar as such transportable container mechanisms must be re-shipped to their original location or other specified destination. Because of the difficulties in the use of such container devices, the same are ill-suited to serve the very limited purpose of preserving the “cool chain” for the very limited distance and duration involving the time perishable cargo is delivered at the airport terminal to the time when the same is actually loaded on an aircraft.
In addition, such conventional containers typically do not provide any sort of means to keep the cargo in a sealed or locked condition while the same is being transported from cargo building to outbound aircraft, and vice versa. The failure of such conventional air cargo containers to provide means to secure such cargo also poses a risk that the cargo can be lost, stolen or misplaced, as well as presents an opportunity that contaminating agents, and in particular destructive insects known to infect many agricultural products imported into this country, can be released to cause further damage and contamination.
Therefore, there is a substantial need in the art for a mechanism, and in particular a temperature-controlled air cargo container transport dolly that enables perishable cargo to be quickly and easily transported from an airport storage terminal and onto an aircraft that preserves the “cool chain” to thus enable the perishable cargo to be maintained in a temperature-controlled environment during such interval. There is additionally a need in the art for such a container transport dolly that is reliable, may be fabricated from well-known and existing, commercially available products, is exceptionally easy to utilize by those skilled in the art, substantially eliminates the well-recognized difficulties associated with using temperature-controlled cargo containers, and can substantially minimize the damage to perishable cargo that could occur during such vulnerable period where perishable cargo is not maintained in a temperature-controlled environment prior to being loaded on an aircraft. There is yet further a need in the art for such a cargo container transport dolly that substantially reduces economic loss, is substantially cost-effective, and easy to implement utilizing conventional transportation practices.